Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-05-21
Its Phenomenal Growth, Business Enter
prise and Brilliant Future.
Prospects--Th The Commercial Metropolis of
an Empire in Extent,and
Resources = Its Manufactures, Jobbing
Trade and Packing Houses.

bpDUuCui ~ W I'LL WY III obJStbo "
the present visit is TO take note OF its bust
ness interests. It's phenomenal growth and
r. m qsssIts oi Wb fafgr Gis R nts4ested o and sige
tionS to the readers or tho Inter Ocean.
The transient visit r %cannotfail TO be deep
ly impressed by the calm, strong confidence
Sioux City that %pervades all It's business
classes, and. In fact, It's entire population.
men and capitalists Will quietly and earn
estly assure the visitor that this Is destined
In the near future TO become the
FOREMOST CITY IN IOWA
In point OF size and commercial import
anee, and that IL will outstrip all other cities
Of the Ml i, 3 Tnd. valley; with h5 the p cosassn eT,
expect 1t to become the commercial me-
t%ropoIis Of the great and raIidly. develop
southwest. This is what they. most religi-
ously believe, expression to which is given
not In windy b 1astin2s, but In form OF
great undertakings and enterprises re-
quiring capital and energy AZ well as cour-
age. In short, they show their famoh :,
by their works than by their words. All
Business as In thed domain ofmorals n re-
bined in an eminent degree Ia the develop
ment Of this city. This fact is impressed
Upon Upon al hn 0ss Sirrte %yisite Tss even if they :
people here not only believe In the future
greatness OF their city, but they are a so
ready to give an answer TO every man that
asks a reason for the ia tn that IL In them.
The intent OF this article is to present. in
part ut least. the substantial facts that
BASIS OF CONFIDENCE.
Let ii be noted, first Of all, that the indie
Unable thing sometimes called a boom"
has never been worked mp here to initiate
over the Slough Of deasIpond. VWuit Within the
present decade the city has made II mar
ulation and increasedfts business I'm a stiil
greater, ratio. Call this IA boom IL you
please, but it is essentially different from
places. The. growth has. been steady,
Though mhoeh rafid, Gtinging With 1T It a the eIe-
port OF the census bureau showed n popu-
lation here of only 1906; That was the clos
Ing yG,l or q period OF business depression,
attended with a series of partial crop fail
ures Tn the northwest. The next census,
taken under state auspices I'm 1885, showed
apopulation OF $1,000, Two years later, or
within the present year, an enumeration
work being done BY reliable ~eanvassers,
the tns" city n limits and and It's s0P plated nwi"s su S1iabln
There Ia no city In the northwest that ea4
boast such = phenomenal increase of popu-
latlon within the same period. This is n
bulge infinitely better than any boom"
that vas over constructed OF gauzc and in
an ed with gas,
Is at a still more striking fact is that busi-
ntSS expansion has been in "a much greater
ratio than the increase of population. The
Dtluutb SlftLS Oh DHnhS anu the IetRpfS OF
merchants and manufacturers show that
since the year 1880, while the population
has qnadrupled, the aggregate Of business
has increased nearly eight-toid. This Is
more signincant than the mere aggregate
of people within the city limits, showing
that there was something here to draw
them anu to give ample support and pros
perity.
And another fact to be noted Is that In
t c1i e5owth ana Increase OF business the
MADE unOn It's reSOurppS and puprniaS nv
the rapid settlement OF the vast country be-
yond. AZ any time during the past five
years Sioux City could have lone more
than double tho business actually trans
acted, IL the capital and the goods had been
here TO supply the demand. This proves
that the city, Is not an artificial production.
but a natural growth IL Is, in fact, a neces-
sary sequence of the
oLU OF AN EMPIRE
from a vast wilderness so recently trav-
ersed only by savagcs and buffatoes. A
glance ot a recent railroa1 map viii; show
the, extent Of the territory which makes
such prodigy, Jus drafts ugon the Jobbing
business and manufacturing Industries Of
this city 1t comprises a humber Of coun-
Ties or northwestern Iowa and southern
minnesota, and a belt through northern
Nebraska and southern Dakota. 200 miles in
width, extending to the Black Hills and Into
W,yomn g This trade area is 200 miles
Woe ana tOo miles long, making l4o,0o
Iowa and Nebraska combined. situated at
the gateway OF this vast and rapidly devel-
Olih@i bSSibhN NltIt IllSl Oh HtttSSilH De Il
great city ~ or near this point to serve rs
an entrepot OF its expanding trade and the
mart OF It's tncreastns products. That ter
ritory Is as yet sparsely settled. as COM
pared with other sections, ana In the ratio
o TITS i.crease OF population this city must
ef ap Its business M eniarge its mann
Il Tor the most part very fertile and produc-
tive, and In extensive portions OF the belt
The greatest wealth OF soil Il within the
radias OF "A hundred miles Of this city, in
elusive Of the a%linvial bottom lands OF the
Missouri, the Floyd, the Big and Little
sioux rivers and their vario s tributaries.
Within this area alone a city IL u hundred
thousand could be built up and sustained,
even II tnete We're no exterior region of
trade. This IL near he northei II line OF the
corn belt, and In this region there never
SGraoSushtt " or excess CO sn Of 'q pain erTR c ari;t any ny
a~lluvial soils are naturally underdrained,
whereby they are, enabled TO withstand ex-
.tremes OF wet or dry seasons. The blur de-
post is also marvelously productive, aud
g~enlogists assure us that ii contains ele-
ments OF greater fertility even than the al
ceedingly rich country, with inexhaustible
mines OF wealth spread upon the surface.
Al the output OF C%oiorsde's silver n.iaes
place.
And this leads to the statement that Sioux
Cits's greatest resources ara in The produc-
ton and marketing OF meat and grain. it
bids fair TO become. within tbs coming
SN"'' -, tNNphb ~ III IhNNJiiE jUlHDIt-
ance. Th~ immense corn1elds Of toe bot
tom lands, referred to above, are immedi-
ately tributa y TO this market. The best
corn-fed hogs and cattle OF the world are
grown and fatted here. The immense cattle
ranges OF wyoming. Dakota and Montana
lie TO the west and northwest, and the ma
tured stock. are mos ed eastward to this
market TO be corn-fed and prepared for
packing or for shipment TO eastern mar
ketE. These Interests are the foundation
of the packing Of beef and pork at this
point.
THE PACKING BUSINESS
ia now carried on by a single establish
ment. with Il capacity OF 200 hogs per day.
running winter and SUNNI r. T. g sales Of
meats last winter aggregated $4,000 900, the
product being shipped TO the Pacific coast
and 20 the gull states. This business Is to be
increased by the erection of Il second pack
ing house, with a capacity OF 2.'Oo hogs per
day, 10 be In operation in the early autumn.
Ihis VIII give a packing capacity Of 4 600
per day, furnishing employment for 700
men. and support for that number OF fami-
lies In addition to this. a beef pacing
mouse Is being built. with n capacity for
packing 800 beeyes per day. From this
statement an idea can be formed OF the
magnitude and importance Of the packing
industry at this point.
One OF the most gigantic enterprises pro.
)ected and TAXI s form within the current
year was the purchase and improye ment of
the Union stock yards. These include / 40,
acres OF suburban lands and 30 city lots.
Inc entire property Is worth to-day 81. 600